Do you ever dream of being so rich that you could afford to build your own castle? For Toronto businessman Sir Henry Mill Pellatt (whose claim to fame is building the first Canadian hydro-generating plant at Niagara Falls), that dream became a reality. Sir Pellatt made his mansion dreams come true when he built Casa Loma. This castle on a hill was built in three years for a cost of $3.5 million (a lot of money back in 1911). However, just 10 years later, the Pellatt’s were forced to move out, bankrupt & in horrible debt. Since then, the castle has been a luxury hotel, nightspot, &, since 1937, a tourist attraction.
Walking into Casa Loma is like walking into something dreamed up by Disney. The scale of everything is huge – the furniture is oversized, the ceilings soar towards the heavens, the dark wood paneling seems ripped right from the tree. Even the front door is heavy &, well, castle-like:
Your admission to Casa Loma includes an audio tour, which helps narrate each stop through the sprawling home. I’ll admit that we skipped a few of the stops, as you could easily spend hours there if you listened to every audio queue & read every plaque.
A highlight of the visit was the amazing view of the Toronto skyline. My guess is that Sir Pellatt has no idea how nice this view would be once the city’s glass skyscrapers & famous CN Tower appeared on the horizon.
Know if you go….
– Casa Loma is easily accessible from the TTC Dupont station – just be prepared to walk up a hill & a pretty steep flight of stairs.
– there’s a little cafe in the basement of the home, but skip it & head to a nearby coffee shop instead
– there’s not a lot in the neighborhood – it’s mostly residential
Our visit to Casa Loma was provided complimentary of Toronto CityPass. All opinions are my own.
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